Turkish holiday spot attracting Brit grannies looking for love with men 'half their age'

A sun-kissed corner of the Mediterranean is attracting older female British holidaymakers hoping to find romance with much younger men. Marmaris in southwestern Turkey offers the usual sunshine and beautiful beaches you'd expect from a break by the Med, but temperatures are rising in a very different way in some of the bars that line the resort's streets.

Inside some of these establishments, groups of older women from the UK, many in their 60s and older, gather to be entertained by local men in their 20s who charm them with their muscular physiques and raunchy dance moves. The phenomenon of Boomers heading abroad on lust-driven vacations to find someone younger is not a new thing, scores of often older men travel to places like Thailand for exactly the same reason every year.

But Marmaris is much closer to home, and has been voted one the cheapest holiday destinations Brits can enjoy. The stunning beaches and reasonably-priced meals and cocktails attract around 700,000 UK holidaymakers annually.

The idea of falling for a local during a trip abroad is one that has been around since the package holiday became popular in the 1970s, and the concept of the holiday romance for an older lady was immortalised on the big screen with the 1989 comedy, Shirley Valentine.

In the film a bored middle-aged Liverpudlian housewife, played by Pauline Collins, leaves her husband behind and heads to Greece alone for a holiday and to re-discover herself. There she meets Costas Dimitriades, the owner of a Greek tavern, played by Toni Conti, and the pair embark on a holiday romance.

In a bar in Marmaris, the Mail Online reports ladies like Linda, 66, are living real-life versions of the plot in the film. In this version Linda has a young Turkish man in tight shorts and a T-shirt performing a lap dance for her. Her friend Sarah, aged 62, is also being courted by a handsome bartender who mimics a sex position as he bends over her.

Linda told the publication Marmaris wasn't like other party towns in Spain and Cyprus which are full of "only young people". She added: "As older women, we can come to Marmaris and have a dance because it is for all ages."

Linda's friend Sarah is less restrained, noting: "I'm not being funny, but if we wanted to go home with one of these [boys], we could. It's that kind of environment. If you want to come here for fun and that kind of stuff, then it's here."

Sarah said the pair never "feel threatened" in the resort town and they have made "so many friends".

However, there is a darker side to the pursuit of love abroad. Stories of romance scams have been reported and even violence against some female customers who enter the bars. Prostitution is also illegal in Turkey.

But despite a police crackdown in recent months on bars overtly offering sex from men to older women, the trade in trysts still thrives.